“What did I miss?” Faith asked as she came back into the room. She went to the sink and began filling it with water. The smell of lemon-scented laundry detergent quickly overpowered the stink of alpaca spit.
Emma said, “We were talking about Gideon Troyer. I said I think he is sincere in his desire to live Amish.”
“That’s because you love Adam and he returned from the outside world,” Rebecca pointed out.
Faith began swishing the shirts in the water. “I agree with Emma. I see a man who wants to live Plain. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have rented my old house to him.”
Rebecca perked up. “Gideon has rented a house?” That did sound as if he intended to stay a while. “Ja. Adrian and I didn’t want it to sit vacant, but we didn’t want to sell it. We would like Kyle to live there when he is grown, but the place needs many repairs. Gideon said he would do them in exchange for a lower rent. It was an excellent solution so we agreed. I believe Gideon’s mind is made up. I think he is here to stay.”
Rebecca wished she could be as certain. “Time will give us the answer.”
“It’s no easy thing to give up the English life,” Katie said quietly.
“You did it,” Sarah pointed out. Everyone knew Katie had followed her English boyfriend into the outside world and only returned to Hope Springs after he left her pregnant and destitute. With no place to go, she had returned to her brother’s house to beg his forgiveness only to find he and his wife had moved away.
“If it had not been for the kindness of Elam and his mother I would have gone back. We must all show Gideon that he has made the right choice.”
“How do we do that?” Rebecca asked.
“Do what Elam and Nettie did for me. Treat Gideon with kindness and forgiveness. Treat him like he has always been, and will always be, one of us. If we doubt him we show him our own lack of faith.”
Rebecca nodded. They were wise words and she held them in her heart. She wanted to believe Gideon would stay more than she cared to admit, but did she dare?
Gideon was stunned to see a passenger van pull up and stop in front of his new home Friday afternoon. He was even more shocked to see the doors open and members of his family begin climbing out.
He moved toward them. “What is this? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise,” his mother announced as Abraham helped her out of the van. Behind his parents came Levi and his young wife, Mary, carrying a baby in her arms and followed by three stair-step blond boys in identical black hats like the one their father wore.
From the far side of the vehicle came his sisters, Betty and Susie. Each of them had toddlers in tow. They both greeted Gideon with a quick peck on the cheek. Joseph was the last one out of the vehicle. He hung back from the others.
Gideon’s father looked the house over. “Is the roof sound?”
His father, although primarily a farmer, had worked odd jobs in construction for as long as Gideon could remember. “As near as I can tell it is, but I would value a second opinion.”
“I will take a look. Have you a ladder?” Abraham asked.
Gideon nodded. “Ja, it’s leaning against the back porch.”
Waneta motioned to Joseph who was watching Levi unload boxes and baskets from the back of the van. “Joseph, go with your father and make sure the he doesn’t fall off the roof.”
“Have Gideon go. He isn’t afraid of heights,” Joseph countered.
Waneta gave him a stern look. “Neither are you and I want to speak to Gideon.”
She and the women bustled up the steps and into the house. Levi brought a large box and pushed it into Gideon’s hands. “I will go help Daed. You can unload the van.”
Levi glanced after their mother and said, “I hope you have a ready list of eligible women in the area for Mamm. I think you’re about to get the, ‘It takes a good woman to make a good home’ speech. If you don’t, I’ll bake you a pie.”
Gideon inclined his head closer to Levi. “I don’t have a long list. I have one name. Is the speech true?”
Levi smiled fondly at his boys. “Ja. It’s true. But as happy as you will be with a wife, just wait till the babies arrive.”
Talk of marriage and babies could wait. For now, Gideon was overjoyed to have his family around him. After ten long years of solitude, he was part of something bigger, something wonderful once again. He was part of the Troyer family.
He looked down at Levi’s boys, standing quiet and patient beside their papa. He said, “How would you boys like to see some very strange animals?”
The youngsters looked at Levi. He nodded. “You may go with your Onkel Gideon.”
Gideon gave Levi back the box and said, “Put it in the kitchen and tell the women I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“What kind of animals?” the oldest one asked. He reached up to take Gideon’s hand.
A thrill of happiness shot through Gideon as he grasped the small fingers. Smiling, he said, “The woman who owns this place raises alpacas. They are out in the orchard.”
“What’s an almapa?” the second youngest asked.
Joseph answered, “An alpaca is like a camel. Are they mean?”
Gideon looked at Joseph and saw the light of interest in his eyes. Pleased, Gideon said, “Some of them spit.”
Joseph came toward Gideon and picked up the youngest child. Holding the two-year-old, Joseph spoke to him. “We can spit back, right, Melvin?”
The toddler nodded. “Me ’pit.” He proceeded to demonstrate his skill.
Gideon laughed. “Maybe I should warn the herd that Melvin is on the way.”
Joseph adjusted the child’s hat. “The barn cats at home give him a wide berth.”
Walking toward the orchard, Gideon was filled with a deep sense of contentment. In the future his children would play with these cousins. They would gather together at his parents’ farm for holidays, weddings and birthdays. He would never be excluded again.
The skating party was well under way on Saturday when Gideon, along with Adam and Emma, arrived at the Sutter farm. After helping Emma down from the buggy, Gideon unhitched their horse and led him to the corral where several dozen horses were tied up along the fence. Still in their harnesses, the animals munched contentedly on the hay spread out at their feet and waited for their owners to claim them when they were ready to go home.
Gideon met up with Adam and Emma again. Taking one of the baskets Emma had packed with goodies from her arm, Gideon walked behind them as they followed a trampled path to a large pond at the base of the hill. A bonfire burned in a flattened area two dozen feet from the edge of the pond. There were at least twenty adults and twice that many children already skating.
“Emma, I’m so glad you could make it.” Katie Sutter waved at them from a makeshift table loaded down with food.
Gideon handed over his basket and looked around for Rebecca. She wasn’t among the women around the table, nor was she sitting on the wooden benches Elam Sutter had supplied for spectators and tired skaters. The party had seemed like a good idea when Emma suggested it, but if Rebecca didn’t come he was back to square one.
Emma moved to stand beside him. “She’s already out on the ice. Get your skates on.”
He looked at the crowd of people circling the pond and spotted her skating beside a young woman. Rebecca held on to her partner’s hand but she skated with ease, occasionally turning to glide backward. He gazed at her in amazement.
“Get your skates on,” Emma prompted again. “I’m sure Sally would like a chance to skate with some of the young fellows here. I know several who are eager to offer.”
Gideon didn’t need to be told twice. He took a seat on one of the nearby benches and traded his boots for a pair of skates he had borrowed from Adam. After lacing them up, he took a few uncertain steps out onto the ice.
He didn’t fall, but he came close. It had been a few years since he last ventured onto a frozen pond. His confidence
grew quickly as his skills returned. When he was sure he wouldn’t make a fool of himself, he skated toward Rebecca.
Reaching her side, he said, “You continue to amaze me, Rebecca.”
“Do I?” Her smile was bright and her cheeks flushed pink from the cold and her exertion.
“Would you mind if I made a round or two with you?” He held his breath as he waited for her reply.
The young woman with her said, “I could use a cup of hot cocoa.”
“Of course, Sally. Run along and thank you for your company.”
As Sally skated away Gideon offered Rebecca his arm. “Ready?”
“When you are.”
He pushed off and wobbled badly. She grasped his arm tightly to hold him up. “Careful.”
He was glad she couldn’t see embarrassment written all over his face. “Sorry. Guess I’m out of practice.”
“It will come back to you,” she assured him.
Gideon pushed off again and stayed upright. After a few moments they fell into an easy rhythm as they glided side by side.
They passed several older couples including her grandfather and his wife taking a slow, stately journey around the perimeter. Three boys shot past them racing each other and weaving in and out of their fellow skaters with juvenile recklessness.
Rebecca let go of Gideon and extended her arms out from her sides. “I love skating. It almost feels like flying.”
Grasping her fingers lightly, he said, “Almost.”
She lowered her arms. “Do you miss it terribly?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t say anything else. They continued to glide over the ice in a comfortable silence. He was deeply aware of the woman by his side. The need to hold her in his arms and kiss her was overwhelming. The need to protect her and make her his own grew stronger every day. This wasn’t the kind of love he’d known in the past.
Oh, he had loved Rebecca when he was young, but it was a pale thing compared to the emotion she awoke in him now. The intensity of his feelings frightened him. What if she couldn’t love him back?
She let go of his hand again, this time to spin in a tight circle. Then, with a spray of ice, she stopped abruptly. She was breathing hard and smiling. She said, “Let me see you do that.”
“Okay.” He turned around once slowly. “How was that?”
“Your technique needs work.”
“Are you blind? That was perfect.”
She skated toward him. “Perfectly awful.”
He stood still until her outstretched hands touched his chest. He captured them beneath his own, wishing neither of them were wearing gloves. He wanted to feel her touch on his bare skin. He wanted to cup her face between his hands and kiss her until they were both breathless.
She moved back and he let her. This wasn’t the time or the place to reveal the depth of his emotions. He would be patient and wait for her no matter how long it took.
Reaching out with one hand she said, “I believe I’m ready for some hot chocolate now.”
“As you wish.” He led her across the ice and warned her when she reached the edge. She followed his instructions and found the bench with one hand.
Sitting down, she said, “Goodness, I didn’t realize how tired I was.”
“Does your chemotherapy make you tired?”
“A little.”
“Is your treatment going well? Adam told me you won’t be able to have the surgery unless you respond to the drugs they are giving you.”
“Dr. White assures me all is going as hoped. I’m afraid to believe that.”
He left her and returned a few minutes later with two steaming cups in his hands. He gave her one and sat beside her. Gideon sipped his hot drink but it was Rebecca’s nearness that kept the afternoon chill at bay.
The trio of speed skaters went flying past again. A group of the girls on the sidelines began egging them on. Elam’s booming voice called for an official race. The pleasure skaters happily moved aside. Start and finish lines were set up and a track outlined by spectators. A dozen boys took their places.
Bishop Zook raised his hand. “Three times around. Go!”
Cheers broke out as families urged on their favorites. With nearly everyone out on the ice, he and Rebecca were alone on the bench.
Rebecca set her empty cup aside. “I remember some wonderful skating parties when we were young. Grace could fly like lightning on the ice. She beat every boy who raced her.”
A cloud of unhappiness settled over Rebecca’s face. It broke Gideon’s heart to see her joy turned to sadness. He took her hand to offer his comfort. “Rebecca, what happened? I know the two of you were very close.”
Gideon’s touch startled her. She wanted to pull away, but the kindness in his voice held her fast. She could feel the warmth of his touch even through her mittens. As Booker once told her, she was woman enough to sense the bond forming between her and Gideon. She thought she knew where he wanted this relationship to go but everything was happening too fast.
Was she ready to start down the path he offered? A long time ago she turned aside from the love Gideon offered because of Grace. She lost her sight and her one true love. Was it possible that God would restore both to her? Had she truly been forgiven?
“Rebecca, I can see you are troubled. Sometimes it helps to talk.”
His gentle encouragement brought tears to her eyes. “Grace has been on my mind a lot lately. Do you remember the time she and I went to a hoedown with you?”
“It was the only time you came to one of those wild parties.”
“I wish I hadn’t gone even that once.”
“You were with me most of that night. Did something happen to you?”
“Not to me. To Grace. She said you thought I was hopelessly uncool, a scaredy cat. That’s why I went. I wanted to impress you with how modern I could be. Maybe I wanted to impress my sister a little, too.”
“I never thought you were uncool. I thought you were everything an Amish woman should be.”
“You were wrong.”
“I know it was the first hoedown you both went to, but I saw Grace plenty of times after that. Your sister liked to party.”
“Do you remember her boyfriend?”
“Not really. I remember that my brother wanted to court her but she wasn’t interested in him.”
“That was because she had started going out with an English boy. He was trouble, but she couldn’t see it.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Drugs. Grace became an addict.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No one knew for a long time, but I suspected something was wrong after that night.”
“It is truly sad that the plague of drugs has reached into our Amish communities. Has your sister sought help for her addiction?”
“Several times that I know of, but each time she has fallen back into the pit. It has such a powerful hold on her mind.”
“Is that why your parents no longer speak of her?”
“They poured their hearts and their money into trying to help her. She used their love to feed her habit for years, begging for money, stealing things from our home to sell for drugs. When she was arrested for selling drugs to other Amish girls Bishop Stoltzfus told my parents that she was lost to them. He forbade us to have any contact with her. If we did, we would be placed under the ban, too. It was a terrible time for them. I could have prevented it all.”
“You can’t blame yourself for her choices.”
“You don’t understand. The night of the party, I saw her boyfriend buying drugs. I overheard him telling his friends that he and Grace were going to get high, but I didn’t warn her. She knew I didn’t like him. I didn’t think she would believe me, but I should have told her. I should have made her listen me.”
“Rebecca, taking drugs was still her decision.”
“No, it wasn’t. She told me later that he put them in her drink. She didn’t know what she was taking. It wasn’t ju
st at that party although that was the start. She sneaked out to see him almost every night that summer. She was hooked on the drugs before she knew what was happening to her.”
“Rebecca, you don’t know that Grace would have listened to you even if you had warned her.”
“She blames me. She told me so. I was older. It was my responsibility to watch out for her. I turned a blind eye to her when she was in danger and God punished me because of that. How right she was.”
“And you think that is why you lost your sight?”
“It was a just punishment. Grace lost her soul because of me. I don’t want to go into surgery until I know for certain if she has forgiven me.”
He was silent for a long moment. Rebecca could hear the cheers of the crowd spike then die down. Someone had won. Others had lost.
Gideon asked, “Do you know where she lives? Can you reach out to her?”
He didn’t tell her she was being foolish. She could have kissed him for that. His understanding gave her the courage to make her next request. If he refused, she didn’t know where else to turn. She squeezed his hand. “I don’t know where she is. Will you help me find her?”
Chapter Eleven
Gideon hadn’t expected this. Rebecca was asking him to help her find her runaway sister, a sister she was forbidden to contact. What if her family or Bishop Stoltzfus found out about it?
The bishop would jump at the chance to excommunicate Gideon again. He had accepted Gideon’s confession, but he made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate any transgressions against the Ordnung. His attitude was the reason Gideon’s family had arranged for him to stay with Adam. While Gideon had been attending church services in Hope Springs, he wasn’t an official member of Bishop Zook’s congregation. He belonged to Bishop Stoltzfus’s church, as did Rebecca’s parents.
Gideon knew his actions could have serious repercussions. If it were discovered that he helped Rebecca against the bishop’s express wishes, he would forfeit his ability to see his family. It was a lot to risk after all he’d given up to return to the fold.
He looked down at the woman holding his hand. That she trusted him enough to ask such a favor was heady knowledge. He was only beginning to understand the extent of the suffering she endured in silence during the years he was gone.
Patricia Davids Christmas Brides of Amish Country: An Amish ChristmasThe Christmas QuiltA Hope Springs Christmas Page 30
